Eh' mates. The digital era seems to have finally filtered into the back hills of Idaho. Even though I'm told I have a great sense of timeing I intend to begin using a click track to make it that much better. I know nothing about them. I read the thread on earbuds and will try the ipod buds first I suppose... ok, call me cheap!
But, what should I look for when choosing a click track? Should I get one with a strobe light or one that only produces sound?
Are there 'bells and whistles worth the extra bucks I should consider?
How much should I spend? Remember, this will only be used during rehersals and live shows.
Anyway, anything those with the experience want to comment on, I'm open to suggestions. Thanks for any input guys.

I intend to begin using a click track to make it that much better. I know nothing about them. .

Are you saying you have never used a click track? If that is the case you had better start straight away because it's going to feel strange. Get a metronome and headphones and get playing at all sorts of tempos. I find light clicks very difficult to work with at fast tempos. IMHO stick with the audio click.

If you going to a recording studio then they will supply the click. A metronome is all you need to get started.

You can probably pick up a used Alesis drum machine at a pawn shop for about fifty-bucks. There's also the Roland models. Try them to make sure they're going to be what you need. There's also other links in DW that discuss using a click track or metronome.

I practice daily using a metronome when on the pad. But I don't have a metro (or?) when practicing on the drums or working with the band, and that's what I need to know more about. A drum machine is larger and more cumbersome than I want. Maybe I just need a simple digital metronome with a strobe AND ear bud. I'm not sure. Thanks for the suggestion Davo. I've got very limited internet speed on my dial up (gonna' change that soon) so getting around to the sites that might have discussions on this is nearly impossible. If there's a thread on DW I'm not sure how to find it, as I gave it a shot. The nearest drum shop is about sixty miles and I haven't had the spare time yet to see what they might have to say. I'm sure this will turn out to be a simple solution. I thought maybe DW would be a good place to start. Thanks guys for the input.

I use a Tama Rhythm Watch and it works well. It is very loud and has an output to send to an amp to make it even louder. Definitely get something with lights; it's much harder to find the beat without lights. The Rhythm Watch also has a neat feature where you can tap a tempo and it will tell you how many BPM it is.

The Peterson BodyBeat BB1 seems a very interesting proposal. This technology I'm gonna check out further. Have you tried it Davo?

As far as getting used to the clik track, we've been practicing with a 'cowbell' track jacked into the p.a.. I really like it, seems to make my job easier. However, it has also pointed out where I have a couple of timing weaknesses so I'm anxious to get going on something soon.

Hey DMC, I didn't see your post. I like the idea of taping a beat and the bpm show up on a screen without spending all that time adjusting the pendulum weight on a metronome trying to figure it out. HMMM, now what to do?

I like to make my own click tracks for each songs, because a few of them have tempo and/or time signature changes. I usually program them in Guitar Pro, then make an .mp3 track in Cubase and I play it from my cell phone. I also use a simple Korg metronome, without any flashing lights.

For listening to the tracks I use these in-ear buds:

And I wear ear muffs similar to these over them:

I never need to set the volume above 65% this way and I play very loud music.

However, you need to be able to turn it off quickly because if you are playing live and the leader starts to move off into another tempo you are going to be working against the bodybeat and that would make it unbearable.

For some time i've wanted a live device that i can pre-programme to say the difficult tempos in the set and then switch on with a tap intro, - ideally with my foot - the leader usually sets the rhythm, then the metronome beeps in ear or flashes the beat so I can keep the rhythm. If I need to, ignoring it can also be done by taking out the earpiece.

I haven't done this in practice but this where I'm heading. What is important is the practical application of the metronome.

Indeed! And that is my focus. It would seem paramont that the tempo's are predetermined so that the user could simply end the tune, reset the tempo, followed by counting the meter for the next song. At least that's the way I invision it. However, reality is usually determined by Peter, so I'm sure my idealistic scenario would often encounter certain revisional occurences.

Pre programming a click track for meter change is interesting. I think at my noob stage I would just play a tune that has tempo or signiture changes by ear, and instead, rely on those skills that I've already developed. Yet, that's an interesting thought. I'd need better tech skills than I currently have to pull that one off. You use your cell phone?? Way over my head dude! As far as wearing muffs over the buds, how do you do that all night. It'd drive me crazy having those things on my head. But... maybe not, I've never tried.

Eh' mates. The digital era seems to have finally filtered into the back hills of Idaho. Even though I'm told I have a great sense of timeing I intend to begin using a click track to make it that much better. I know nothing about them. I read the thread on earbuds and will try the ipod buds first I suppose... ok, call me cheap!
But, what should I look for when choosing a click track? Should I get one with a strobe light or one that only produces sound?
Are there 'bells and whistles worth the extra bucks I should consider?
How much should I spend? Remember, this will only be used during rehersals and live shows.
Anyway, anything those with the experience want to comment on, I'm open to suggestions. Thanks for any input guys.

The back hills of Idaho! Probably not unlike the back hills of Oklahoma!

Pre programming a click track for meter change is interesting. I think at my noob stage I would just play a tune that has tempo or signiture changes by ear, and instead, rely on those skills that I've already developed. Yet, that's an interesting thought. I'd need better tech skills than I currently have to pull that one off. You use your cell phone?? Way over my head dude! As far as wearing muffs over the buds, how do you do that all night. It'd drive me crazy having those things on my head. But... maybe not, I've never tried.

It takes some practice to get used to playing songs with meter and tempo changes over a click, but it's not that difficult. Just start doing it every time you practice a song and you'll be there before you know it.

My cell phone doubles as an mp3 player. Not at all advanced or difficult to use, if you know how to play .mp3's on your computer, you'd have no trouble here either. Or you could use any kind of portable mp3 player, nothing fancy is needed. Memory capacity and sound quality are pretty much irrelevant here.

Ear muffs, I find them more comfortable than those big over-the-ear headphones. They are very light and big enough inside that they put no pressure on any parts of my ear lobes.

"Ear muffs, I find them more comfortable than those big studio headphones. They are very light and big enough inside that they put no pressure on any parts of my ear lobes."

So do I understand you use the muffs when playing with the band? If so, it seems you'd miss a lot of sound. Maybe I got this wrong. Last night I had a rehersal with, for me, a new band, all players being regional biggies and excellent. But they're style was so busy! It drove me a little crazy cuz I like a solid grove format. So maybe I should use those muffs too whether I use the buds or not. LOL. Now the cell phone use makes sense to me, thanks.

N. Idaho is all mountains, forests and lakes with a few big rivers and lots of criks. Me other band mates (The Incinerators) are on the road (I don't road) playing in Texas and N. Mexico right now and I believe Ok is on their agenda.

Soooooo........ I take it there ain't none ah' ya' that's had any experience with the 'Body Beat'.... hmmm... don't say much for their marketing ability and maybe not much for the product either. But then again?????